


Distractions From The Thought Of You

by lemonmangosorbet



Category: Twin Peaks
Genre: Angst, Arguing, Canon Compliant, Lots of Angst, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Season/Series 02, but maybe there's a happy ending?? who knows, sorry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-06-15 17:47:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15418281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemonmangosorbet/pseuds/lemonmangosorbet
Summary: Albert hadn’t been himself. You could barely talk to him without getting a backlash. Harry felt like all the progress they’d made in terms of their friendship over the time Cooper was in Twin Peaks had been undone, and Albert was back to being an irritable individual with no time for anyone. No, it wasn’t like when he was first in Twin Peaks, it was worse. Much darker; Harry could sense it.My fic forSmall Fandom Fest 23and a gift for Bex, based on their prompt:Albert won't stop working, won't stop looking. Harry understands but also knows they have to stop. (It's easier worrying about Albert than dealing himself)





	Distractions From The Thought Of You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [trufield](https://archiveofourown.org/users/trufield/gifts).



Harry wasn’t in Twin Peaks anymore. In some ways, it was a relief. Despite Twin Peaks being his home, Harry had found the place almost suffocating since the murder of Laura Palmer, like it was impossible to avoid the darkness lurking in the trees. Then Special Agent Dale Cooper disappeared, at a time when Harry was dealing with considerable loss. All Harry could do was bury himself in work and his duties as Sheriff of the small town to try and forget.

 

However, at the same time, Harry could also feel the concern in his heart for the residents of the town he cherished so much. He knew he’d left matters in Deputy Hawk’s capable hands, but he was still worried. He couldn’t help feeling like if anything else went wrong in Twin Peaks, he would be to blame. He knew no one would blame him for the terrible things that happened; he was the only one who blamed himself.

 

Harry swallowed past the lump growing in his throat, and stared up at the looming building before him. A meeting at the FBI offices in Seattle with Cooper’s boss, Gordon Cole, at 9:00 am sharp. Apparently there had been a lead on Coop’s whereabouts and Gordon wanted to run over the details with Harry, just in case anything sounded familiar to him. It wasn’t something they could do over the phone, and Gordon stressed that he didn’t have the resources at the moment to send another agent out to Twin Peaks, so instead Harry made the journey to Seattle. Again, part of him was grateful for the change of scenery, part of him wasn’t.

 

Maybe him, Hawk and Big Ed would have joked about Gordon being unwilling to send anyone to Twin Peaks. After he sent Coop, the pleasant small town life almost stopped him from returning to the Bureau, and Gordon didn’t want to lose one of his best agents. But jokes like that couldn’t be made. Despite it being four months since Cooper’s disappearance, it was still a sore subject, especially for Harry.

 

He also suspected another reason for the invitation to Seattle. The discussion would take place like an interview, with their conversation recorded. Gordon mentioned it over the phone, but promised it was nothing to worry about; red tape he couldn’t get out of. Harry knew though that for Coop to disappear without a trace, he might have had help. He didn’t blame anyone in the Bureau for suspecting him; he and Coop had been close. It still hurt though.

 

Ever the optimist, Harry tried to look on the brighter side. He’d be seeing Gordon again; a good man, who was a little on the eccentric side. Perhaps he’d see Denise Bryson. He wasn’t sure if she was based at the Seattle office or if she was currently travelling across the country for a case. It would be nice to see her again though, if she was here.

 

And then there was Albert Rosenfield. The last time Harry had seen him was soon after Coop vanished. Him and Gordon arrived in Twin Peaks to gather as much evidence as they could, particularly with Albert being the forensics expert. But Albert hadn’t been himself. You could barely talk to him without getting a backlash. Harry felt like all the progress they’d made in terms of their friendship over the time Cooper was in Twin Peaks had been undone, and Albert was back to being an irritable individual with no time for anyone. No, it wasn’t like when he was first in Twin Peaks, it was worse. Much darker; Harry could sense it.

 

He tried to push away the thoughts of Albert’s terrible mood from his mind as he proceeded into the ominous building, and to it’s reception. He asked the receptionist for Gordon Cole, and he was asked to take a seat.

 

It may have been early in the morning, but the lobby was a hive of activity, with various people coming in and out of the building, most wearing dark coloured suits. As Harry waited, he busied himself by people watching; something to keep his mind occupied because he couldn’t stand being idle.

 

“Sheriff Truman?”

 

Harry looked up at the woman standing before him. She was tall, her hair styled in a precise bob haircut, sleek and dark, it had clearly been dyed black. He immediately stood, removing his hat as he did so, and offered his hand in greeting.

 

“Good Mornin’.” Harry said with a smile, and the woman returned it with a small smile of her own. Any other person might not have noticed it, but Harry caught a glimpse of it before it vanished. They shook hands and Harry picked up on the fact her nails were painted a bright, glossy red.

 

“Morning.” she let go of his hand, and then added, “My name is Diane.”

 

_ ‘Diane?’ _

 

The name rang a bell, but it still took Harry a moment to realise why it sounded so familiar.

 

“Diane? Well, it’s nice to finally put a face to a name.”

 

He smiled softly at her; he couldn’t help it. His heart ached when he considered that she’d lost a very important person in her life too. Yet here she was in the Bureau, still working despite everything.

 

“The feeling’s mutual.” she smiled again, but this time it was more of a sly smirk, perhaps her true nature showing, “It’s good to finally meet the famous Sheriff Truman I’ve heard so much about.”

 

Harry felt his cheeks growing warm; he imagined Cooper might have mentioned him in his recordings to Diane, so there was a lot about Harry’s life from that time that she would know about.

 

“Would you like to follow me? I’ll take you to meet Gordon.”

 

“Oh, yes! Of course.”

 

They proceeded to the elevator and made their way up. Wherever Gordon was, it was on one of the highest floors of the building. As they travelled up, Harry asked,

 

“Does Denise Bryson work in this building?”

 

Harry and Diane where stood side by side in the elevator. She didn’t turn to look at him when she replied, instead she focused on the numbered lights above the elevator door,

 

“Sometimes. But today she’s working an undercover case on the East Coast, highly classified. In fact, me telling you that it’s on the East Coast is probably a breach of my confidentiality agreement.”

 

Harry decided then that he liked Diane. She was, like the others working at the FBI, on the eccentric side. He could imagine why Coop enjoyed having her as his secretary.

 

“What about Albert Rosenfield? Is he in today?” Harry looked at her as he spoke, she was still fixated on the lights about their heads, but there was something about her expression that changed, and Harry couldn’t put his finger on it.

 

“Oh, Albert is here. Whether you see him or not is another matter.”

 

The statement sent a chill though Harry; he didn’t like the sound of that. Was Albert still in the same angry rut he had been in when they’d last seen each other? Could Harry really be one to judge though when he was still feeling raw from Coop’s disappearance?

 

Harry could feel concerns brewing, but Diane was quick to break his train of thought. She was looking at him now, eyes travelling up and down, surveying him.

 

“You know,” she smirked, “you didn’t have to come here in your Sheriff’s uniform.”

 

Harry laughed,

 

“No, I guess not.”

 

“What’s up Sheriff? Do you plan on making a quick getaway after our interview? You that desperate to get back to work.”

 

Harry felt warmth creeping up the back of his neck; he was a little embarrassed now.

 

“No, I’m staying in Seattle for the night. I thought it’d do me some good to get out of Twin Peaks for a while.”

 

Diane hummed in affirmation.

 

Harry’s idea was that he’d stay in Seattle for the night, but whether that would happen or not, he wasn’t sure. He wanted to escape Twin Peaks momentarily, but he was scared of the temptation provided by the liquor behind the hotel’s bar. He was worried that the isolation of his hotel room would give him too much time to think; too much time to regret. In the worst case scenario, Harry wouldn’t stay. He didn’t care about losing the money on a hotel room he wasn’t going to use. He’d rather spend the night driving back to Twin Peaks; at least that would give him something to concentrate on.

 

They arrived at their destination and Diane led Harry through busy office corridors. As they walked, they passed by open office doors and he could see agents talking to each other, mulling over case files with mugs of coffee. Harry thought about Coop among them, working with them, casting a positive glow over the room. It was upsetting to think he was missing this, a place where he could really be in his element.

 

When they arrived at what Harry presumed to be Gordon’s office, Diane knocked, but she turned the handle and walked in before getting a response. Gordon looked up from his desk and his face turned into a smile as soon as he saw Harry.

 

“IS THAT OUR GOOD FRIEND SHERIFF HARRY S. TRUMAN, FROM TWIN PEAKS?”

 

“Hi Gordon, it’s good to see you again. How you doin’?”

 

Harry made sure to speak loudly and clearly, so Gordon could hear him. He stood from his desk and approached Harry, and they shook hands in a heartily fashion.

 

“I’M GREAT HARRY, JUST SWELL.” he released Harry from his firm grip and turned to Diane, “DIANE, COULD YOU GET SHERIFF TRUMAN AND I A FRESH POT OF COFFEE SWEETHEART?”

 

Diane forced a smile; Harry could tell she didn’t like to be called ‘sweetheart’.

 

“Sure.”

 

She left the room, slamming the door behind her.

 

“TAKE A SEAT HARRY.”

 

Gordon gestured to the empty seat on the opposite side of the desk to his office chair, which he returned to. He sat down and his expression changed. He was, of course, happy to see Harry, but now sadness was settling on his features.

 

“YOU KNOW WHY WE’RE HERE HARRY. I WISH I COULD BE SEEING YOU AGAIN UNDER HAPPIER CIRCUMSTANCES.”

 

Harry nodded in response, and Gordon nodded too.

 

“WE’LL WAIT FOR DIANE TO BRING THE COFFEE AND THEN WE’LL HEAD OVER TO THE INTERVIEW ROOM. SHE SHOULD HAVE BOOKED IT FOR-”

 

Gordon was interrupted by a very brief knock on the door, which followed with Albert opening it and barging in.

 

“Gordon, when do you need these notes on the Espinosa case?”

 

Albert’s voice was stern, and hearing it made Harry’s heart jump. Albert looked awful, and that was putting it politely. He looked exhausted, evident in the deep, dark circles under his eyes. Had he lost weight? Harry wasn’t sure, but Albert’s suit certainly didn’t fit him as well as Harry was used to seeing.

 

Surprisingly, Albert had failed to notice Harry sitting in Gordon’s office; Harry didn’t want to think that he was being purposely ignored.

 

“ALBERT-”

 

Harry was the one to interrupt this time by standing from his seat and offering his hand to Albert.

 

“Hi Albert. It’s nice to see you.”

 

Harry’s words were true; it _was_ nice to see Albert. He wished that Albert looked better than he did, but it was still nice to see him.

 

Albert glanced down momentarily and didn’t take Harry’s hand, instead he turned back to his boss and said more loudly,

 

“Gordon?”

 

Harry’s arm dropped to his side, he was disappointed. Gordon shot up from his seat,

 

“ALBERT, THAT IS NO WAY TO GREET OUR GUEST.”

 

“Well, sorry if I’m the only one in this place who wants to get some fucking work done!” Albert’s tone was full of annoyance, and he wouldn’t rest until he got his answer, “Gordon! The Espinosa case?”

 

“BY THE END OF THE WEEK WILL DO ALBERT.”

 

“I’ll have the notes done by the end of today.”

 

With that, Albert left, slamming the door behind him. Harry heard Gordon sigh loudly and he noticed that his own fist was clenched at his side.

 

Harry felt a hand on his shoulder; he turned to see Gordon’s regretful face. He gave Harry’s shoulder a faint squeeze, and spoke in a much quieter voice,

 

“Don’t take it to heart Harry. He’s been like that with everyone since Coop went missing.”

 

It was meant to make him feel better, Harry knew that and he appreciated the gesture, but he was so disheartened by Albert’s behaviour.

 

“Come on, let’s go to the interview room. Diane should be able to figure out where we are, and she can meet us there with the coffee.”

 

“Sounds good Gordon.”

 

Harry tried his best to smile.

 

 

* * *

 

The meeting with Gordon to discuss the new lead on Cooper’s whereabouts had been fine. If anything, Harry found he was a little discouraged. The lead wasn’t much; a sighting of someone who resembled Coop, but in a state far away from Washington. Harry had no idea why Coop would be there, if it even was him. But Gordon used their time in the interview room effectively, going over the events in Twin Peaks that lead up to Cooper’s disappearance, hoping maybe Harry would remember something he hadn’t previously. The entire conversation was recorded, as Gordon said it would be, but Diane also stayed in the room with them, scribbling away on a reporter style notepad. Harry felt self-conscious.

 

After the interview it was approaching lunchtime, and Gordon offered to treat Harry to lunch at a ‘swell place almost like the Double R, but the pie was nowhere near as damn fine’. Harry politely took him up on his offer.

 

Gordon excused himself to use the restroom, so Harry had to wait for him before they could head out. The whole interview hadn’t taken as long as Harry had expected; realistically he could drive back home after lunch and cut his Seattle trip short. The thought left him dismayed, he had hoped he could catch up with more people than just Gordon, but remembering how Albert had behaved in Gordon’s office… It wasn’t worth trying to pursue it.

 

As he waited, he sensed a presence approaching. Diane appeared next to him, her hand placed gently on his arm as she leaned in to speak to him,

 

“Any plans for tonight Sheriff Truman?”

 

“Uh,” Harry turned to her and felt nervous under her unwavering glare, “no.”

 

“You said you’re staying at a local hotel. Which one? Maybe I could meet you there for dinner?”

 

Harry was flustered, but he was able to pull himself together and give Diane his hotel’s address. She smiled when she heard it.

 

“I know it. There’s a nice restaurant nearby. We can go there.”

 

It seemed like Harry would not be returning to Twin Peaks anytime soon.


End file.
